Garment hanger

ABSTRACT

A GARMENT HANGER COMPRISING IDENTICAL FIRST AND SECOND HANGER PORTIONS WHICH ARE DETACHABLY SECURED TOGETHER AT THEIR INNER ENDS TO FORM THE HANGER. THE INNER ENDS OF THE HANGER PORTIONS ARE PROVIDED WITH MATING CONNECTION MEANS AND ARE ALSO MAINTAINED TOGETHER BY A HOOK MEANS HAVING ITS LOWER END EMBRACING THE SAME. THE HANGER PORTIONS ARE EACH   PROVIDED WITH A RESILIENT GARMENT CLIP MEANS WHICH IS INTEGRALLY FORMED WITH THE HANGER PORTION.

United States Patent [721 Inventors Louis S. Reller;

Lucille S. Reller. RFD #3. Washington. Iowa 52353 [21] Appl. No. 759,383 [22] Filed Sept. 12, 1968 [45] Patented June 28, 1971 [54] GARMENT HANGER 3 Claims, 6 Drawing Figs.

[52] l.1.S.C1... 223/93 [51] int. Cl. A47] 51/08 [50] Field of Search 223/94, 89, 85, 93, 88, 87; 24/20, 201; 287/64, 65

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 919,501 4/1909 Wall 223/94 2,352,477 6/1944 Guyer 223/87 2,633,276 3/1953 Gillespie et al. 223/90 3,209,966 10/1965 Wach 223/93 1,550,634 8/1925 Polkka 223/89 2,091,992 9/1937 Johnson 223/88 2,172,587 9/1939 Laggard 223/87X FOREIGN PATENTS 1,101,641 4/1955 France .1 223/94 60,181 3/1954 France 223/88 Primary Examiner-Jordan Franklin Assistant Examiner-George H. Krizmanich Attorney-Zarley, McKee 8:. Thomte GARMENT HANGER A principal object of this invention is to provide a garment hanger constructed of two detachable hanger portions.

A further object of this invention is to provide a garment hanger including indentical first and second hanger portions which are detachable for convenience in packaging and transportation.

A further object of this invention is to provide a garment hanger including first and second identical hanger portions which are detachably secured together by a hook member.

A further object of this invention is to provide a garment hanger comprised of plastic material and wherein the molding expense is reduced.

A further object of this invention is to provide a garment hanger including resilient garment clip means provided thereon which are integrally formed with the hanger.

A further object of this invention is to provide a garment hanger which is durable in use, refined in appearance and economical of manufacture.

These and other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

This invention consists in the construction, arrangements, and combination of the various parts of the device, whereby the objects contemplate are attained as hereinafter more fully set forth, specifically pointed out in the claims, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of the hanger;

FIG. 2 is an elevational view of the assembled hanger;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view as seen along line 33 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view as seen along line 4-4 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary elevational view of thehanger illustrating the resilient clip; and

FIG. 6 is a sectional view as seen along line 6-6 of FIG. 5.

The garment hanger of this invention is generally designated by the reference numeral 10 and includes identical hanger portions 11 and 11'. Inasmuch as hanger portions 11 and 11 are identical, only hanger 11 will be described in detail with identical structure on hanger 11' being designated by Hanger portion 11 includes an outer end 13, inner end 15, upper surface 17 and lower surface 19. The inner end of the hanger 11 is provided with a recessed area 21 defined by walls 23 and 25. A lug 27 having a circular cross section protrudes outwardly from the wall 25 transversely to the longitudinal axis of the hanger portion 11. Wall 25 is also provided with a circular opening 29 formed therein which is spaced from lug 27 as illustrated in illustrated in the drawings. Opening 29 has the same diameter as the lug 27 so as to permit the opening 29 to receive the lug 27 when the hanger portions 11 and 11' are detachably secured together. The lug 27 is adapted to be detachably received by the opening 29 formed in hanger portion 11' as illustrated in FIG. 3. The mating of the lugs 27 and 27 with the openings 29 and 29 respectively serve to detachably connect the two hanger portions 11 and 11' together and prevent rotational movement between the hanger portions 11 and 11 when so connected. Hanger portion 11 is provided with a groove 31 formed therein adjacent the inner end thereof as illustrated in the drawings while the hanger portion 11 is provided with a groove 31.

The numeral 33 designates a hook member constructed of a suitable material such as wire, plastic or other molding material and including a U-shaped lower end portion 35 which is adapted to be received in the grooves 31 and 31' as viewed in FIG. 4 to detachably maintain the hanger portions 11 and 11' together. Lower end portion 35 embraces the inner ends of the hanger portions 11 and 11' as illustrated in the drawings and is provided with an arcuate portion 37 which extends inwardly as illustrated in FIG. 4 to yieldably prevent the lower end portion 35 from becoming detached from the grooves 31 and 31'. Hook member 33 is provided with an arcuate upper end portion 39 adapted to facilitate the support of the hanger 10 from any suitable support.

The numeral 41 generally designates a resilient garment clip means which is provided on the upper surface of hanger portion 11 and which is integrally formed therewith during the manufacture of the same. Clip means 41 is connected at its inner end 43 to the upper surface 17 of hanger portion 11 and has a finger member 45 extending downwardly and outwardly therefrom as viewed in FIG. 2. Finger member 45 is spaced from the upper surface 17 of hanger portion 11 to provide an opening 47 therebetween as illustrated in FIG. 2. A tab 49 extends downwardly from the outer end of finger member 45 and is removably received by a notch 51 formed in the upper surface of the hanger portion 11.

Preferably, the hanger 10, with the exception of the hook member 33, is constructed of a suitable plastic, nylon or the like material capable of being molded in conventional fashion. The fact that the hanger portions 11 and 11 are identical means that only one mold need be used thereby greatly decreasing the manufacturing costs. Thus, identical hanger portions are detachably connected at their inner ends to form the garment hanger and are maintained in the position illustrated in FIG. 2 by the lugs 27 and the hook element 33. It can be appreciated that the hanger 10 may be shipped or stored in its unassembled condition to facilitate the same.

The clip 41 is integrally formed with the hanger portion 11 during the molding thereof and is a significant improvement over the previous garment hangers having spring clips detachably mounted thereon. Previously, the garment hangers and spring clips associated therewith were separately manufactured which substantially increased the costs of manufacture due to the requirement of the additional mold for the spring clip and the additional expense of placing two spring clips on the hanger. The finger 45 may be raised with respect to the upper surface 17 to remove the tab 49 from the slot 51 so that a portion of the garment may be inserted in the opening 47 so that the garment lies or rests on the upper surface 17. When the finger 45 is released, the tab 49 maintains the garment in the opening 47. The resiliency of finger 45 is such that the tab 49 will not make a permanent dent or impression in the garment. It should be noted that while the resilient clip 41 greatly adds to the convenience of the particular hanger illustrated in the drawings, the clip 41 may be used on those hangers which are not detachable such as disclosed herein.

Thus it can be seen that a unique hanger has been provided which is comprised of identical first and second hanger portions which are detachably connected at their inner ends thereby reducingthe costs of molds and greatly enhancing the shipping and storage characteristics of the same. It can also be seen that the fact that the clip 41 is integrally formed with the hanger portion 11 also reduces the molding costs. Thus it can be seen that the device accomplishes at least all of its stated objectives 4 We claim:

1. In a garment hanger constructed of three pieces, comprismg:

a first molded hanger portion having inner and outer ends,

a second molded hanger portion having inner and outer ends,

said first and second hanger portions being identical and being formed from a single mold,

said first and second hanger portions adapted to be detachably connected together at their inner ends,

said first and second hanger portions having mating connection means at their inner ends,

a hook element extending upwardly from said hanger portions and having a substantially U-shaped portion at its lower end which removably and yieldably embraces and extends around the inner ends of said hanger portions to detachably maintain the same together, the inner ends of said hanger portions having a groove formed therein at one side thereof, said U-shaped portion of said hook element including spaced-apart, vertically disposed sides having a bottom portion extending between the lower ends thereof, one of said sides being received in the groove in said first hanger portion, the other of said sides being received in the groove in said second hanger pornected together.

3. The hanger of claim 1 wherein one of said sides of said hook element has an inwardly extending arcuate portion at its upper end which frictionally engages the groove of the hanger portion to yieldably prevent said hook element from becoming detached from said hanger portions. 

